Miss the VMAs?
Kendrick Lamar fans were over the moon about his six Moon People, and other hot stuff from the show
MTV’s Video Music Awards had a tough time slot on Sunday: It aired during the season finale of Game of Thrones. So, there’s a good chance you didn’t catch MTV’s night of live music and Moon People hosted by Katy Perry.
What happened? A mix of pyrotechnics, politics and poor jokes. The VMAs opening was truly lit. Lamar performed onstage with a stunt performer who was lit on fire, and in front of people climbing a fiery cargo net. Lamar’s rapping of DNA and Humble was similarly fiery. He went on to win six awards.
Ed Sheeran, the night’s artist of the year, also played in front of fire. As did Pink. The show also had rain, which we’ll get to later.
2LOGIC
AND JARED LETO GOT REAL ABOUT SUICIDE PREVENTION.
Rapper Logic gave an emotional performance of 1-800-273-8255, his song named for a suicide prevention hotline, with Khalid (who went on to win best new artist) and Alessia Cara (who also performed Scars to Your Beautiful). After a number of suicide survivors joined him onstage, Logic addressed the audience: “I don’t care if you’re Christian, you’re Muslim, you’re gay, you’re straight. ... I believe that we are all born equal, but we are not treated equal and that is why we must fight.” His words earned a huge applause.
Jared Leto also brought up the topic of suicide when he paid tribute to his friend Chester Bennington, the lead singer of Linkin Park who was found dead in his California home in July.
“If there is anyone out there who is watching this tonight who feels like there is no hope, hear me now: You are not alone,” Leto said. “Witnessing (Chester Bennington’s) life taught me important things, especially about working relentlessly, pursuing dreams and being kind and caring while doing it.”
3HEATHER
HEYER’S MOM WAS WARMLY WELCOMED.
The only person that got a bigger standing ovation than Logic was Heather Heyer’s mother. Susan Bro, whose daughter was killed while protesting the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., took center stage after she was introduced by a descendant of Robert E. Lee, Robert Lee IV, who said, “As a pastor, it is my moral duty to speak out against racism, America’s original sin.”
Bro announced that all VMA nominees in the new Fight Against the System category were winners. “I look forward to the important work that they, and all of you, will do together to make the world a better, kinder place,” she said.
4FIFTH
HARMONY CAUSED SOME DRAMA.
In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it bit of staging, Fifth Harmony may have just thrown shade at their former band member. At the start of their set, the group appeared on a platform with one hooded figure — a Camila Cabello standin, perhaps? — who immediately fell backward off stage.
On Twitter, the move was widely considered a jab at Cabello, their former bandmate who left the group earlier this year to pursue a solo career.
The rest of 5H’s performance saw the ladies all eventually falling backward off of the stage, breaking out of glass boxes and dramatically dancing in the rain. The theatrics didn’t stop there: The group almost broke down while accepting the award for best pop video.
5PINK
SENT A MESSAGE ABOUT BEAUTY.
Pink delivered a moving medley of songs from the stage, from the audience and even from a flying car. But the most memorable part of Pink’s appearance at the VMAs was her speech about beauty and self image.
After Ellen DeGeneres presented her with the Video Vanguard Award, she talked about how her daughter, Willow, saw herself as “ugly” by society’s standards.
“Baby girl, we don’t change,” said the singer, who explained that she’s dealt with being called “masculine” and “too strong ” throughout her own life. “We take the gravel in the shell and we make a pearl. And we help other people to change so that they can see more kinds of beauty.”
6THERE
WAS A TAME MILEY CYRUS AND ZERO TAYLOR SWIFT.
Though Taylor Swift’s video for Look What You Made Me Do premiered on the show, the singer didn’t show up to accept her best collaboration award with Zayn Malik (who also was absent).
Miley Cyrus, on the other hand, was there. But it was the new toned-down Cyrus — not her old Robin Thicke-gyrating self — who sang a vocally demanding Younger Now with several dancing seniors.
7THERE
WAS PLENTY OF ANTI-TRUMP SENTIMENT AND BAD JOKES.
Here’s something TV viewers didn’t see: YG & Nipsey Hussle’s expletive-laden song F--- Donald Trump aired during one of the show’s commercial breaks. But that’s probably not a big surprise, considering the show was peppered with political jabs from Perry on topics such as The Handmaid’s Tale and her hope of Hillary Clinton winning the presidency.
Unfortunately, much of the MC’s one-liners didn’t land. Her jokes about getting a baby just for the social media likes, snatching off her own wig and saying she was “shooketh” by a performance, and sort-of-but-not-really spoiling the Game of Thrones finale were met with silence, if not some groans.
Perry’s best moment was when she closed the show with her song Swish Swish. She went from singing on a giant, manicured hand to flying through the air and shooting a basket. It’s too bad her overall hosting job wasn’t a slam dunk.